American Actress, Hersha Parady Dies Aged 78
American actress, Hersha Parady, known for playing Alice Garvey on the hit TV series “Little House on the Prairie,” has lost her life at the age of 78.
The actor passed away on Aug. 23 due to a brain tumor, her son, Jonathan Peverall made this known.
She is survived by Peverall and her three grandchildren “who will miss her very much,” he said.
In a GoFundMe campaign that Peverall set up for his mom in July, he explained that Parady was “battling a tough medical condition — a brain tumor known as meningioma.“
“This illness has robbed her of her strength, her memory, and sadly, her vibrant personality,” he wrote. “She has become largely bedridden, and it is very difficult to see my mom, who was once full of life and energy, now struggling with basic daily activities.“
Peverall explained that he was trying to raise money for his mom so he could help improve her “quality of life” and give her “the support she needs during this difficult time.“
In his last update on July 31, Peverall disclosed that Parady had a “successful” surgery and was “transferred to a rehab facility with hope for a positive recovery.“
However, he noted that “at some point during the stay, she developed pneumonia and had to be taken back to the hospital.“
Parady was born on May 25, 1945, in Berea, Ohio. In a 1975 interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, she said she was destined to become an actress. “I was always a child living in the world of pretend,” she said. “Even when I was very little, I much preferred to make believe rather than play with dolls.”
She graduated from Berea High School in 1963, acted at the Cleveland Play House and in regional theater, and then came to Los Angeles, where she landed the role of Stella opposite Jon Voight in a road production of A Streetcar Named Desire.
Parady made her onscreen debut on an episode of Bearcats! and then appeared on Mannix, The Waltons, and in a pilot for a Gunsmoke spinoff that was not picked up into a series.
She was up for the part of Caroline Ingalls on Little House before Karen Grassle was hired but made her first appearance on the show during the third season in 1976 as Eliza Ingalls, the sister-in-law of Landon’s Charles Ingalls. She wound up playing Alice on 35 episodes.
After Little House, Parady appeared in the films Raw Courage (1984) and The Break (1995) and on series including Unsolved Mysteries, Second Noah, and Kenan & Kel, where she played Principal Dimly.
Parady was married to producer John Peverall, who shared the Best Picture Oscar in 1979 for his work on The Deer Hunter. In addition to her son, survivors include her siblings, Patty, Kenny, and Bobby.
